Maiden Page 7

  Even as she swallowed her last mouthful Elethrine’s overwhelming lust for sexual contact began to fade. Slowly she began to wonder why she was licking Talithea’s face so wantonly, then she pulled back, filled with embarrassment and shame at her own behaviour. Worse still was the knowledge that is was the musky scent that had overcome her reserve, a scent similar to that of goblins and one that she knew she would be unable to resist.

  The situation remained the same as the made they way across the great plain. By day they would ride within the protective pentagon of dwarves, shielded from the attentions of the Vendjomois. By night they would eat and then submit themselves to the lust of their guards. Despite Elethrine’s inability to control herself while under the influence of the dwarves’ scent, she managed to retain her maidenhead simply because she had not offered it as part of the original bargain and so the dwarves refrained from taking advantage of her excited state.

  Little else was left to her in the way of modesty. On one night she took all five of them in her mouth in turn, swallowing their thickly scented come until she was delirious with need. She also allowed her breasts and bottom to be fondled, both by the dwarves whose penes she was sucking and by the other girls while they also were in the grip of sexual need.

  By mutual consent no mention was made of their nocturnal behaviour during the day, an agreement that allowed Elethrine and Talithea to retain at least the pretence of propriety, although both knew that they would be as eager as ever for the feel of dwarven cocks and taste of dwarven come in the evening. There was also the matter of feeling each other, which they did with abandonment while under the influence of the dwarven musk but avoided mentioning altogether during the day.

  Before supper on the third day, Elethrine found herself alone for the first time since their arrival in Apraya. They had set up camp beside a dry gully and she had used this as shelter in which to relieve herself. Squatting with her dress and petticoats up, her drawers and pantalettes open and her bare tuppenny gushing a golden stream, she had been thinking of the coming round of cock sucking and wondering how it might feel to allow a dwarf to come between her breasts. With a flush of guilty delight she realised that at last she had the opportunity to play with her tuppenny and see if she could experience the same exquisite feelings of climax that Aisla had shown her.

  As soon as she had shaken away the last drops of pee she began to rub at her clitoris as Aisla had done but with the urgency of possible discovery. Her mind turned to the thought of cocks in her mouth and hands and the taste and feel of come in her mouth. The previous night she had had a really good feel of Talithea’s bottom, massaging and stroking the full, bouncy cheeks through just the thin cotton of the Princess’s pantalettes. The temptation to split the pantalettes and kiss Talithea’s anus in a gesture of abject submission had been there, or even to ask for a spanking.

  That would be it, she thought as she began to rub harder - to be spanked across the Princess’s knee - spanked with her bottom bare in front of the others, her cheeks parting to show her wet tuppenny and her tight bottom ring - spanked as if she were some ill behaved maid whose exposure and punishment was meaningless. Better still, she could be stripped nude and passed round for spanking, beating bare bottomed by each of them while she masturbated in a rude, dirty, wanton display of her sex -

  For the first time in her life Elethrine came, screaming out her ecstasy as her clitoris burned beneath her finger. Even as her climax hit her it was accompanied by a great wave of utter shame for her degraded fantasy. Then a clatter of pebbles startled her and she spun round to find Turilan standing at the top of the bank with his axe ready in his hands.

  ‘You screamed?’ he asked in puzzlement, casting about for an assailant.

  Then his eyes lit on the glistening juice on her fingers and his swarthy face broke into a wide grin. He turned away, laughing and leaving Elethrine with her face scarlet with blushes. Nevertheless, that evening and the next she masturbated while she gave mouth service, coming secretly with her hand down her drawers while she sucked cock.

  On the morning of their fifth day in Apraya they came within sight of the city of Fujome. At first it appeared as a smoky blotch on the horizon, then as an irregular line of watery violet far off across the plain. Gradually the details of its towering wall and even taller towers and domes became clear. The land also became lusher, and presently Elethrine made out the high, single sails of boats on what was presumably a river.

  ‘Fujome,’ Karogan announced, turning in his saddle, ‘and the river Phætes beside it. Here we shall renew our stores and prepare ourselves for the journey across the Eigora Khum to Gora-Jome and the great Ephraxis.’

  Elethrine nodded in response and turned her camel onto a road that ran towards the gates of the city.

  ‘Cover your hair,’ Turilan remarked from beside her, ‘it is unlikely that any will dare accost us, yet it is wise not to tempt providence.’

  She obeyed, twisting her hair into a loose bun and winding the square of raw silk around it. Beside her Talithea and Aisla did the same, the maid without question, the Princess with reluctance.

  They entered the city through a high portal of solid marble, the points of the arch meeting at what Elethrine estimated to be the height of perhaps as many as twenty tall men. To either side bartizan’s projected form the walls, with fierce, helmeted faces visible through their arrow slits and strange metal tubes projecting from holes. An officer stepped out, causing Elethrine a moment of unease, but after a brief word with Karogan he allowed them to pass. Elethrine briefly met his eyes, finding a look of pure lust that made her blush. She felt sure that had their guards not been with them she would have been put on the ground and ravished, regardless of onlookers and probably by the entire guard once the captain had finished. He made no move though, merely eyeing the heavy axe at Karogan’s belt.

  ‘They know better than to meddle in dwarven affairs,’ Turilan remarked dryly as they passed into the main street of the city.

  ‘I wish to bathe and change,’ Talithea announced. ‘Is it possible to purchase new clothes.’

  ‘Possible it is,’ Karogan replied, ‘the city is famed for its bazaar, yet knowing your scruples you might wish to consider before changing into local raiment.’

  Elethrine saw immediately what he meant. The place was busy, men and women thronging the marble paved edges of the broad street. Their clothes were silk and in every colour she could imagine, yet even those women who appeared richest were scarcely decent. A length of light silk seemed to be the standard garment, wrapped around the chest and hips. Some were worn so as to leave one breast bare, others tight across the full, rounded bottoms that seemed characteristic of Vendjomois women. A few wore short skirts, loose trousers or shorts, but in all cases the thin silk did little to conceal their figures.

  ‘It seems that washing my clothes must suffice,’ Talithea sniffed.

  ‘You looked little more decent with your pantalettes on show,’ Elethrine remarked, unable to resist the dig at the Princess’s behaviour when overcome by lust.

  Talithea shot her a furious glance and opened her mouth to speak, only to think better of it.

  ‘Eurlan’s Inn hard by the sentinel tower seems the most sensible choice for accommodation,’ Karogan announced. ‘The prices are reasonable and it is staffed by dwarves and halflings, who ask fewer questions than most.’

  ‘Very well,’ Talithea answered him, ‘so long as I may sleep in comfort.’

  Karogan answered with a grunt and they turned down a side street, the magnificent marble faced houses immediately giving way to dwellings one or two stories shorter and considerably less impressive. The inn proved to be close to the wall and overlooked by a tall tower. The squat building stood in its own compound, with stables to the rear. Elethrine dismounted gratefully, intent on washing the dust of the journey first from her mouth and then from her body.

  ‘Aisla,’ she ordered, as Rilan took her camel, ‘go and find out what facilities exist for
bathing and the washing of clothes.’

  Aisla curtsied and hurried into the inn after Umajan; Elethrine, Talithea and Karogan and Turilan following at a more sedate pace. The inside proved cool and comfortably furnished, while smells of frying fish, onions and other foodstuffs helped to create a homely atmosphere. Elethrine sighed, feeling safer and more relaxed than at any time since their violent abduction from Korismund.

  Karogan ordered drinks, first water and then mead, which Elethrine accepted gratefully, joining the dwarves on a leather padded bench and sipping at the rich fluid while her body slowly relaxed. Before Elethrine had finished her drink Aisla returned to announce that a bath was being drawn and that their clothes would be washed while they bathed. Rising gratefully to her feet, she followed the maid up a flight of broad stairs, Talithea beside her.

  She bathed, taking her time, and then took her meal in her room, Aisla serving her and Talithea while their clothes dried in the hot, arid afternoon air. Finally she crawled into the bed and collapsed into a deep, dreamless sleep. At some point during the night a hand on her shoulder shook her gently awake and a cock was offered to her mouth. She sucked, slowly and sleepily, until whichever dwarf it was came in her mouth. As a second took her by the hair and fed his erection to her she was vaguely aware that Talithea and Aisla were giving similar service, but was quickly asleep again as soon as she had swallowed.

  When Elethrine awoke again it was to bright light of a different quality to that which had filled the room when she had first gone to sleep. After a moment of disorientation she realised that she had slept through the entire night and that it was morning. Aisla was sprawled beside her, while Talithea still slept in the bed opposite. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Elethrine sat up, glad of the long sleep. Having wakened the others and dressed, she made her way down to the main hall of the inn to find the dwarves in conversation with a group of men.

  One of the these, an obese man whose short stature and ruddy brown skin colour suggested that he was half-dwarf, was in earnest conversation with Karogan. The other three had the yellowish-brown skin typical of the Vendjomois and none looked at all prepossessing. One was lean, relatively tall and carried a somehow predatory air, another was older, grey haired and paunchy while the third was heavy set, youthful and apparently not of the fastest wit.

  ‘Demoiselle Elethrine,’ Karogan greeted her, ‘this is the merchant Ayapan, Kaulak of Teahjome, Mausac and Ulak, noted soldiers if not currently in service. Men, I give you the Demoiselle Elethrine, who has a title too long to easily remember, and with her are Talithea and Aisla, the first a Princess. All three are of Mund in the far north.’

  ‘Mund?’ the man who had been introduced as Ulak remarked.

  ‘To the north,’ Elethrine explained, ‘across the Eigora Khum and many other lands and seas besides.’

  ‘I had thought the northlands an icy waste inhabited by giant yellow haired barbarians,’ Ulak said is disbelief.

  Unable to resist the effect, Elethrine pulled at her head scarf and shook out her mane of rich, pale blonde hair. Ayapan’s eyes opened in amazement, as did those of the soldiers.

  ‘We are not giants though,’ she said.

  ‘Nor barbarians, save in Aegmund,’ Talithea added.

  ‘Barbarism is relative,’ Ayapan the merchant replied, ‘as is size. You stand over a head taller than I, and your friend perhaps close to two heads. Your men folk must be taller still, so you are surely giants.’

  ‘I think not,’ Elethrine answered stiffly, ‘and as to barbarism, I have seen nothing in Vendjome to impress me. Come Karogan, we should be pressing on.’

  ‘There is a change of plan,’ Karogan replied. ‘Ayapan is a nymph merchant and has asked us to guard his precious merchandise. Kaulak here has been guarding him since leaving Gora-Jome, but twice they have been troubled by bandits. Ayapan wishes a more secure guard.’

  ‘That is his difficulty!’ Talithea snapped, her voice rising above the protests of both Elethrine and Aisla. ‘You are hired to guard us!’

  ‘Do not fear,’ Karogan responded evenly, ‘we will return your payment less only our actual expenses. Also, Kaulak has agreed to serve in our stead.’

  ‘What!?’ Talithea demanded hotly. ‘You are not merely going to desert us but leave us in the care of this wolf faced vagabond! Where is your honour!’

  ‘My honour demands that I serve my kinsman first,’ Karogan replied calmly. ‘Ayapan is son to my uncle’s cousin and so may fairly claim our protection.’

  Talithea continued to protest, with Elethrine and Aisla adding occasionally to the debate, but Karogan stood firm and they were eventually forced to accept the change of guard.

  Chapter Four - Slut

  Leaving Fujome, they rode out to the north, headed for the city of Gora-Jome and the Ephraxis river. The countryside was lush and fertile, with the broad Phætes a placid expanse to one side and watermeadows and orchards to the other. Farms and villages were numerous, and the peaceful, rich air of respectability served to calm Elethrine’s nerves. The road was busy, and although their dress aroused some curiosity, with their head-scarves to hide their hair it was less than before and nobody sought to interfere with them. As before they received lustful glances, but the men of Vendjome seemed timid and unable to act on their impulses. Nor were the guards the trouble that she had anticipated. Kaulak rode ahead, Mausac and Ulak to either side and a little behind, each sitting proud and upright with their lances held at ease. Scraps of crimson cloth at the lance heads bounced and waved in the light breeze, marking the three men as paid guards. Despite the occasional remark to complement their figures, the guards had not molested them. Evidently the men of Vendjome were not as incapable of controlling their lust as she had suspected.

  They made good time, and before noon had reached a village where the Phætes swung away to the east and with it the main road. Having filled their waterskins and checked their supply of food, they struck off on the smaller road that led out across the Eigora Khum and ultimately to Gora-Jome. At first the countryside around them was moderately lush, fields of wheat mixed with orchards and pasture, watered by numerous irrigation canals. As the heat of the day reached its full, burning peak they came to a low scarp which marked the edge of the river’s flood plain. Beyond it the land was dryer and grown with vineyard, olive grove, blade tree and copses of a strange tree with feathery foliage which Elethrine did not recognise. After an hour’s ride another scarp marked the start of more broken, hilly land rich with the scent of wild thyme and sage, then a third brought them out onto the true desert.

  ‘Eigora Khum,’ Kaulak announced, reining in his camel, ‘or at least its edge. Gora-Jome is close to two hundred leagues east. North, you will find nothing but rock and sand and more rock for six, perhaps seven, hundred leagues.’

  ‘A lonely place,’ Mausac remarked with a light, somehow cynical laugh.

  Elethrine looked at the parched, lifeless waste with distaste. She had thought the Oretean plain arid, but it teemed with life besides the Eigora Khum. She turned, giving what she hoped was a last look at the Phætes valley, glanced at Talithea and Aisla and then set her face to the desert with determination.

  For another four hours they rode, largely in silence, until they reached a group of broken rocks at the summit of a low hill. The sun had begun to fall into the west, throwing long shadows from the rocks out across the desert ahead, a flat expanse of pale yellow sand marked only by rounded dunes. Kaulak dismounted and signalled that they should do the same, briefly tended his camel, and then sauntered over to them.

  ‘Here will do as well as another place,’ Kaulak declared, ‘and besides, it would be foolish to camp out among the dunes for fear of storms.’

  ‘Why so?’ Talithea asked with her usual haughtiness. ‘There are perhaps two hours of light left, and I would like to make the best time possible.’

  ‘And wake up under the sand,’ Mausac laughed, ‘if at all. No, my pretty, we rest here tonight. Besides, sand makes a p
oor surface for the pursuit of erotic pleasures, tending to instability.’

  ‘Grains also frequently lodge in awkward places,’ Ulak agreed as he slipped from his camel.

  ‘Do not call me “my pretty”, and what erotic pleasures do you intend?’ Talithea demanded hotly, although the hauteur of her voice showed an underlying alarm.

  ‘My maid will be available for such services, should you insist,’ Elethrine addressed Kaulak, ‘but the Princess Talithea and myself are highborn and do not dally with hired soldiers, nor any others for that matter.’

  ‘Are you virgin then, to so resent the pleasures of the flesh?’ Kaulak responded in genuine surprise. ‘Life is short, and we travel together in this lonely place. Is it not natural that we should together take pleasure in the natural abilities and senses of our bodies? This is my philosophy.’

  ‘I know nothing of your philosophy,’ Elethrine replied proudly, ‘and I am indeed maiden.

  ‘And I likewise,’ Talithea added. ‘We are the unwed daughters of King and Baron, how else could it be?’

  ‘The unwed daughters of our high placed men are notorious for their excesses,’ Mausac put in in surprise. ‘Ulak, do you not recall Zinjana, daughter of the Governor of Arijome, and how she satisfied the troop of Captain Orik?’

  ‘So I do,’ Ulak replied, following his remark with a satisfied sigh.

  ‘It is so,’ Kaulak assured the girls, ‘and at the inn you stated that while within the rule of Vendjome you were prepared to accept Vendjome customs. The Panjandrum lays claim to the entire Eigora Khum - though for no obvious purpose - so, by your own argument you should take joy in coupling with us. Any girl of Vendjome would approach our offer with abandonment.’

  ‘There is a great difference between covering one’s hair and surrendering one’s maidenhead,’ Elethrine answered.

  ‘You speak of joy,’ Talithea put in hotly. ‘Do you take us for strumpets that we should give ourselves to our base needs so easily?’